Picket Fence
by IAintPunkRock
Summary: Bonnie Bennett is just a typical fresh high school graduate when she came back to Mystic Falls to visit her grandmother. Trying hard to be as normal as she can be, she went to adjust at her seemingly new environment with her two best friends Elena and Caroline. But a college sophomore student named Kai Parker just have to give her a new meaning for the word "normal".


Ephemeral

Prologue:

The moon above is staring at them; its light illuminating each faces away from the darkness of the night that envelops the whole sky.

"So where are you taking me?" There is a hint of flirty tone in her curious voice. She still has his hand in hers and she is not letting go anytime soon. "We'd been walking for five minutes now. Are you sure you don't have plans on murdering me?" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man beside her.

"Well if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it maybe a couple of minutes ago", he replied, the pure mischief glinting in his icy blue eyes giving her cold shivers. "But I didn't, so nope, I didn't bring here to strangle you or stab you with a knife I don't have."

She held his smoldering gaze, trying desperately not to drool or gasp. It's utterly funny because she thought that after hours of staring at him in class or every time they are together she can already manage not to be entirely head over heels for him. She can't quite put her finger on it – on that particular feeling that makes her stomach flip and somehow creates somersaults on her chest area.

He smiled at her and for one moment it felt like time stopped a bit and moonlight crowded the pitch-black garden they'd been roaming at.

"Look", he looked at the sky and pointed his finger at the bright stars. He chuckled. She closed the little distance between the two of them and looked at the direction he is pointing. Her shoulder made contact with his chest a bit and a surge of static electricity seemed to electrocute her. She flinched.

"There, you see that?" He stole a glance at her but her focus is already at the ocean of bright dots above. He breathlessly examined her face – her expressive green eyes, her nose, her rosy cheeks and her lips… that he just wanted to kiss. His breath hitched. He attempted to keep his composure however and returned his concentration at the dark beyond.

"Do you see that three stars, uh, kind of aligned in a straight line? Those are Zeta, Epsilon and Delta", he explained.

"They consist Orion's belt", she grinned. When he gave her an amused look, she playfully hit him in the arm. "For your information Mr. Parker, I love astronomy."

"Well then can you tell me the myth about it?" he challenged. "I mean, as you just said you are quite the expert in this, Miss Bennett."

She laughed. "Don't call me that." She is aware that he is watching her and her heart did its abnormal beating again. "You make me sound like we're in Pride and Prejudice."

Confusion was obvious on his face, his eyebrow raised and a frown adorned his beautiful lips. Despite all that she still thinks and _believes_ that he is gorgeous even when he broods. "Oh!" It was after a few seconds when he realized the book reference she used.

"Get it? Miss Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Austen's Lizzy?" she added, hoping that he knows what she is talking about. If she loves anything, it is literature. She likes to read and books had been her companion ever since she was the lonely child who seeks happy endings from fairytales that she now knows don't exist at all. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of her all-time favorites.

He silently licks his parched lips. "Does that mean I'm Mr. Darcy?" he asked.

The two of them locked gazes and suddenly she felt a heavy flow of energy surrounding their bodies. It was like a hurricane appeared at the middle of nowhere and the powerful winds are about to force them to become _one._ The silence that overcame them is never awkward but rather interesting and they revel in it.

"I know about how Orion was said to chase the seven sisters", she started explaining, breaking the quiet atmosphere that embraced them just a while ago. "They became what are now called the Pleiades constellation. Apparently, Orion is a stalker."

He snickered at her joke. "No, I'm not talking about that myth."

"So there is another myth?" she shrugged casually.

"Orion is a warrior", he began telling the story. "He's quite good at it. But he's a shy man, likes to keep things to himself. So he settled in living at an island. He is contented with life. People can't say what is wrong with Orion and why he doesn't like interacting with other mortals. Some say that he is afraid to hurt others. He is a skilled hunter that can kill anything or anyone. Like the animals that he goes after, he is nocturnal. Every night he spends hunting, he didn't know that someone watches him." He stopped narrating and threw a glance at her who is attentively listening to him. "Artemis, the goddess of the moon admires him. Artemis, no matter how much she likes him, is not allowed to have an affair with a mortal. She is Zeus's daughter and it will be a scandal. So she watches from afar. But one night when she couldn't take it anymore, she left the skies where she lives and met Orion. It was love at first sight. Artemis then removed her godly robes and changed into a hunting armor and hunted with Orion. What they did that night was repeated for more nights. Until Zeus discovered their relationship. He devised a plan to separate the lovers. He sent a giant scorpion at Orion's island to poison him while he is sleeping. But Orion woke up and fought the scorpion. He almost defeated it when Artemis came. Orion stole a loving glance at Artemis and in that split of a second the scorpion pinched its tail on him. Artemis managed to throw the monster in the sky thus making it a constellation – the Scorpius. The time she held Orion's body though, it was too late. He was a goner already. Artemis wept for hours before climbing back to the skies and bringing Orion with her. She made him a constellation so she can guard him forever." He was out of breath when he finished the story.

"She loved him so much", she whispered. "They love each other so much."

"Their love for each other killed him. Who knows what happened to Artemis? I bet she lost her shit after seeing the love of her life getting killed by a giant scorpion sent by her dad", he reasoned.

"But don't you see it? He died because he got distracted. Maybe for a moment the thought of dying passed his mind because he has to look at her beloved's face. That happens, you know. Seeing someone you love is sometimes more important than other things. And Artemis… she wept for hours in mourning for him and even made him a constellation so they can be in each other's company for all eternity. If you don't think that's love, then I don't know what it is." She was being gesticulative, making hand gestures and even stepping back a little from his body, the heat radiating off him impulsively making her uncomfortable. "And maybe Orion has to die. His death is the only way he can be with the goddess. If he lived, there is no chance in hell Zeus will allow them to be together. It's their destiny."

"Tragic destiny?" he asked with hesitation.

"They loved each other. Even for a short time they spent together, they were happy I think." She looked up again at the sky, frustrated that the clouds are now blocking the moonlight. She glued her sight to the constellation that they had been talking about. "And look, now they are close to each other", she said rather cheerfully when the clouds moved a bit and showed the full moon. "Artemis is said to be guarding by the moon. Look how near Orion is to the moon." She smiled heartily.

Then she faced the man beside her only to find him already staring at her. "Kai? What's wrong?"

He didn't think twice before leaning in and meeting her lips with his. It was an abrupt decision but he didn't regret it. The kiss is nowhere chaste. It is a mixture of emotions: selfishness, need, lust… love. It lasted more than she expected, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, fighting against hers for domination. She gave up afterwards. She moaned and that encouraged him to deepen the kiss. She held him for support, her knees wobbly under. When they were both out of air they separated, their foreheads touching each other.

"I think I'm in love with you, Bonnie." The confession shocked her. Before she could react, he kissed her again. What a perfect way to shut me up, she thought.

Under the dazzle of the moon and billion stars, they stayed like that for minutes, completely unaware of what tomorrow is going to bring.


End file.
